FEBRUARY 2003 : (KARACHI, PAKISTAN : AL QAEDA'S KSM MEETS WITH UZAIR & SAIFULLAH PARACHAS TO MAKE DEAL FOR ACCESS TO IMG SHIPPING CONTAINERS ; MARITIME SECURITY / PORT SECURITY / RAG TRADE PLOT) Days before he was captured in Pakistan in March, suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed met in Karachi with the owner of a W. 35th St., [NY] clothing importing company and his son, law enforcement sources said. Al Qaeda's No. 3 man offered to invest $200,000 in International Management Group in exchange, federal authorities now believe, for access to IMG's Port Newark-bound shipping containers, sources say. [Khalid Sheikh] Mohammed "is obsessed with attacking the United States, and New York has always been at the top of the list for Al Qaeda," said one law enforcement source. After learning of the plot, federal authorities began monitoring IMG's containers, though sources said no weapons were found in them. -- "Rag trade terror plot: Al Qaeda sought Garment Center tie," by GREG B. SMITH, New York Daily News, August 22, 2003
If they were only planning to hit gas stations they wouldn't need access to shipping containers from IMG.
NOVEMBER 2005 Wednesday : (UZAIR PARACHA GOES ON TRIAL - See AL QAIDA, BALTIMORE CELL, WMD, CHEMICAL PLOT, MAJID KHAN / RAG TRADE PLOT) NEW YORK - A Pakistani man went on trial Wednesday on charges alleging he agreed to help an al-Qaida operative planning a chemical attack against Americans sneak into the United States. Uzair Paracha, 25, is accused of agreeing to support the plot during meetings with two al-Qaida operatives and his father [Saifullah Paracha], a businessman held at Guantanamo Bay.
"This trial is about the defendant's role in helping al-Qaida penetrate this country and attack the United States from within its own borders," Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Bruce said in his opening statement. Bruce said Paracha was trying to help Majid Khan, an al-Qaida member who was granted U.S. asylum and living in Baltimore. Khan needed Paracha's help to return after leaving the country improperly to go to Pakistan, Bruce said.
The prosecutor said Paracha made deposits into a bank account in [Majid] Khan's name to make it appear he was in the U.S. and posed as Khan to try to obtain an immigration document. Khan and the other al-Qaida operative are presumed to be in U.S. custody overseas, though the U.S. government has refused to acknowledge it.
On Wednesday, Bruce repeatedly referred to a planned chemical attack by [Majid] Khan but never described the plot or when and where it would occur. Prosecutors have said Paracha admitted he believed that Khan was an al-Qaida operative and that by helping Khan he was assisting al-Qaida.
Paracha lawyer Edward Wilford told jurors Wednesday the government's claims stemmed from a false confession Paracha gave after he was subjected to 72 hours of interrogation without being told he could consult a lawyer. "At no point did Uzair Paracha agree to help al-Qaida do anything," Wilford said. ------- "Prosecutor: Pakistani sought to aid terror (NY trial)," by Larry Neumeister - ap, AP on Yahoo, 11/09/05
This bunch is also tied to the 'wanted' Dr. Alafia Siddiqui.
10 posted on 07/20/2006 9:36:46 PM PDT by piasa
Good catch!